While I've used Org's development version in the past, I stopped doing
that due to my failure to learn how to use git (no time) and other
issues. Now, I only use the stable releases. But the latest 8.3 release
doesn't seem so stable to me, so I'd like some clarification about what
the Org maintainers mean by a stable release. Perhaps this is too vague,
so let me explain a bit.
Normally, I wait many months before upgrading Org to a new stable
release, but when 8.3 was released, I upgraded right away (from 8.2.10)
since I have a new machine on which I installed Emacs 24.5. I read
through the release notes for anything that might give me problems and
didn't see anything.
When I started using 8.3, I discovered that the behavior of commented
headlines had been changed---a change with which I disagree, a change I
could not find in the release notes, and one which forces me to alter a
huge number of files. It seems I missed the discussion about commented
headlines on the mailing list. This is due to my limited knowledge of
elisp and programming in general, a gap which makes it difficult for me
to follow the more technical discussions on the mailing list. While it
has been explained to me that the change is a feature, I consider it to
be a serious bug since it is not backwards compatible.
Another issue I had with 8.3 is the deletion of the
org-latex-with-hyperref variable, something I could not find in the
release notes (maybe I missed it). I understand that having Org insert
\hypersetup{...} details is the most desirable situation, but I fail to
see the harm in keeping org-latex-with-hyperref for those of us who
needed it in the past. Yes, I figured out a fix, but this is a fix that
forces me to stick with an outmoded way of doing things, and so I
consider this deletion to be a bug.
I do understand that all software has bugs, and that everyone working on
Org is doing so voluntarily (thank you so much for your wonderful work).
But I was very surprised to find that the evaluation of table formulas
didn't work in 8.3.1. I could see something like this happening in the
development version, but it is somewhat mysterious to me how such a bug
could make its way into a stable release.
I guess what I want to know, and maybe there is no answer, is how long
should I wait before upgrading to a stable release? Org is by far the
most important piece of software I use (I hate it when I can't use Org),
and bugs (which I know can't be avoided) make it hard, even impossible,
for me to get my real work done. If there is a way for me to minimize
encountering bugs, I will appreciate a description of that way.
Scott Randby
- [O] Stable releases Scott Randby
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